The verdict was unanimous this morning: earthy tea was requested by the office gang for a snuffly winter day, so out came the 2007 Rui Cao Liang sheng from Yunnan Sourcing, comforting, friendly, earthy, and mellow. Happy campers up and down the hallway now--today's tea distribution included 5 colleagues, including one new person who now has an official tea cup.

debunix wrote:The verdict was unanimous this morning: earthy tea was requested by the office gang for a snuffly winter day, so out came the 2007 Rui Cao Liang sheng from Yunnan Sourcing, comforting, friendly, earthy, and mellow. Happy campers up and down the hallway now--today's tea distribution included 5 colleagues, including one new person who now has an official tea cup.

debunix wrote:The verdict was unanimous this morning: earthy tea was requested by the office gang for a snuffly winter day, so out came the 2007 Rui Cao Liang sheng from Yunnan Sourcing, comforting, friendly, earthy, and mellow. Happy campers up and down the hallway now--today's tea distribution included 5 colleagues, including one new person who now has an official tea cup.

Some of them are fine (if a little tragic because they were made of really good material).

But yes, most puerh that are oolonged to the point that the top taste is rather flat in a year or two are probably going to make for relatively boring tea in the long run. If it's done right, it's only a little oolonged. The other real danger of oolonged puerh is that they become harsh in the throat after a few brews.

Right now, I can't really tell oolong puerh by aroma. Better puerh in general have stronger, higher aroma. TIM, how would you tell a oolonged puerh from a really good puerh by aroma? Is it extra fruity? Extra floral? I'd have to go by whether the taste is lively and how it feels in the throat.

I hope you guys don't mind if I chip in. IMHO, when I choose pu for aging or even for drinking now, I normally don't pay much attention of floral aroma, I go for body, texture, durability, huigan and feel. I'm a bit like my chosen avatar, complete opposition of TIM's, don't have much sense of smell. A very aromatic tea like oolongs or most green tea would be wasted on me. Most of them also don't have that thick texture I find in pu which I crave. Having said that, occasionally I do notice some tea have some interesting youthful taste, e.g. 2011 Dayi Jin.

Wet leaves aroma: burnt pine wood, thyme, a hint of leatherTaste: very particular. smoked taste, thyme, pepper, spices... not much chenwei for a ’11 dayi of this kind, or is it me? Tastes bada area plantations [Edit] blended with some mengsong/baotang [/Edit]Huigan: yes… a few good “intoxicating” effects for a young sheng (if it means something...)Aftertaste: sweet bitterness, smoke, a hint of garlic butter(?). Not very longlasting.Mouthfeel: some astringency which doesn’t last too much, some slight salivation effect.Soup: from gold yellow to orangeQi: I have no idea… so, probably not much...maybe a bit of calming qi after a good while, i don't know

Nothing very refined in the taste, it’s thick & relatively complex, probably because it’s a blend; there are some good fast huigans and a decent sweet aftertaste in the throat… obviously designed to age perfectly it’s terribly boring as a young sheng and doesn’t taste good to me, at least for drinking now.

I bought a cake when it was $40, just because of all the hype. Now it’s $60 and I wouldn’t buy another bing at such a mystical price. I wonder why dayi didn’t make a nice shu bing of these leaves, maybe something like a higher quality dragon pole ?

I was a bit more inspired by the dayi longyin ‘12 but I need to try it again. It was more homogeneous and much more brewable, if I remember correctly.

TIM wrote:...'Oolong Puerh' processing... Good material, not time proven process (modern). High aroma, flat in the body, and not aging well so far.

Tim, I'm curious to understand. What do you mean by Oolong Puerh processing? Is it simply a puerh tea that has been withered for longer, and hence oxidised more, or is there another process you're referring to?

You were very specific in stating that it goes stale after 8+ years. I don't doubt it, but do you mind sharing why you think this is the case?

TIM wrote:...'Oolong Puerh' processing... Good material, not time proven process (modern). High aroma, flat in the body, and not aging well so far.

Tim, I'm curious to understand. What do you mean by Oolong Puerh processing? Is it simply a puerh tea that has been withered for longer, and hence oxidised more, or is there another process you're referring to?

You were very specific in stating that it goes stale after 8+ years. I don't doubt it, but do you mind sharing why you think this is the case?